


Ask and Embla

by Wickedrider98



Category: The Bastards Crew, The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Bisexual Female Character, F/F, First Love, First Meetings, Fluff and Angst, Mentions of alcohol, Other, Sappy Shit, i love them so much y'all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-04-24 12:01:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19172857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wickedrider98/pseuds/Wickedrider98
Summary: Phantomness falls in love.





	Ask and Embla

Phantomness didn't know how to describe what she felt when she was around her. The way her heart fluttered at the most innocent of touches, how her smile was enough to light Phantomness's world that had always been so dark. The people in her life had always been so abrasive, cold and harsh and neglectful to the point she wasn't even sure she was capable of forming a healthy relationship with another human being. Her own family didn't want her for God's sake, if she couldn't even get the people who made her to love her, then who could she get?  
And then she met Embla.  
She was the first person who had taken an interest in her, the first one Phantomness could confidently refer to as her ‘friend’. The two had met completely by accident one day, when Phantomness had been running to pick up more titanium screws for Carmilla. She hadn't been watching where she was going and had plowed straight into a girl with curly brown hair, sending an explosion of screws into the air.  
“Fuck, sorry,” she muttered, scrambling to pick up her cargo, “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”  
“That’s alright,” The stranger replied. Her voice was soft, “can I help you pick those up?”  
Phantomness nodded and the two girls started picking the tiny silver screws up off the cobblestone ground.  
“My name is Embla. Embla Snorri,” the girl said as they worked, “and you are..?”  
“Call me Phantomness.”  
“Well Phantomness,” Embla murmured, her honey colored eyes locking on Phantomness, “I was about to head to Svalinn Cafe to grab some coffee, if you’d like to come?”  
Phantomness glanced from her box of screws to the smiling girl in front of her. Carmilla would be angry if she got back late, but then again, when wasn’t Carmilla angry?  
“Sure,” she responded, “I think I can spare a few minutes. But only if you’ll let me pay. I think I owe you after helping me pick up those screws. And after running into you.”  
Embla smiled.  
“Consider it done.”  
***  
In the months to follow the two became near inseparable. Though Embla had met both Carmilla and Jonny in a run-in that Phantomness would rather forget, she made it a point to keep the two parties separate at all times. Her strange, cruel boss and her maniacal mechanical creation didn’t deserve to be graced with the presence of the one good thing she had. Embla was different from anyone else she’d ever had around her. She was kind and social with a close-knit group of friends she had somehow flawlessly managed to integrate Phantomness into. She’d often sneak off when she thought Carmilla and Jonny weren’t looking to go out with her and the people she’d somehow also managed to become close to. The part she found most refreshing, however, was that none of them had ever asked to see what was under her mask. That had always seemed to be everyone she met’s first question. Carmilla hadn’t even asked, just pulled it up and stared. But Embla and her friends had never asked, or even hinted at wanting to know. And she was forever grateful.  
***  
It was summer when Phantomness first noticed the strange feelings she felt when she was around Embla. Though she had come to adore all of the new and wonderful people in her life Embla seemed to shine the brightest among them, like the moon in a sky full of stars. She especially noticed them the night the girl took her to a forest far outside of the city limits of their home city of Völuspá. The two wandered through an almost endless labyrinth of trees, the moon Mani their only guiding light.  
“Em, are you sure you know where you’re going?” Phantomness asked as Embla bounced along ahead of her.  
“Of course I do!” She exclaimed, “my father used to take me here all the time when I was young.”  
They pressed on through the brush until the came to a clearing. Embla tramped through the tall grass to the massive white rock at its center, motioning for Phantomness to do the same.  
“What are we doing here?” She asked as she took a spot on the cool stone next to her friend.  
“You’ll see.”  
They watched as a small glint of silver light began to flit through the night sky.  
“Celestialbugs?” Phantomness asked, shocked, “I thought they were extinct on Midgard!”  
“Not extinct,” Embla replied, “you just have to know where to look. Now watch!”  
The clearing slowly began to fill with shards of silver, dancing and floating on the night air like stars come down from the sky. The bugs swirled around Phantomness, landing on her clothes and in her hair. Then she saw Embla. The Celestialbugs seemed to love her, landing on her and making it look as though she had braided diamonds into her soft brown ringlets. When she turned to her and smiled, Phantomness forgot how to breathe.  
“Isn’t this incredible?” She asked, beaming.  
Phantomness had also forgotten how0 to speak.  
“B-breathtaking!” She finally stammered.  
***  
The bugs concluded their ballet sometime around dawn, the last of their lights flying off into the colors of daybreak as Phantomness and Embla began to make their way home. They’d spent the entire night out in the forest, and no doubt there would be Hel to pay for it, but Phantomness didn’t care. Carmilla could do what she wanted with her, she’d gotten to spend an entire night with the only person in her life that mattered. As they neared the entrance to Carmilla’s lab, Phantomness wished that she could renounce her title as the Doc’s Lab Assistant and flee back into the forest to watch the Celestialbugs dance with Embla forever. But, duty called. Embla stopped in front of the lab and turned to her friend.  
“”I guess this is where we part ways,” she said.  
“Yeah, I guess. I had fun last night.”  
“So did I,” before Phantomness knew what was going on she was enveloped in a tight hug, “we should do it again sometime.”  
Phantomness felt her heart skip multiple beats as Embla let go.  
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” She asked.  
“Y-yeah, tomorrow.” Phantomness replied, still reeling, “sounds good.”  
She watched as Embla rushed off down the cobblestone path.  
“When are you going to tell her you want to bang her?” A voice from behind her pulled Phantomness out of her platonic pining. Or at least, what she thought was platonic. She turned to see Jonny seated on one of the stumps outside the lab, lit cigarette in hand.  
“What do you mean?” Phantomness’s eyes narrowed, “she’s just a friend.”  
Jonny rolled his eyes.  
“Please,” he muttered, “I may not have a flesh-and-blood heart anymore, but even I can recognize what love looks like.”  
“Funny, even with a heart I didn’t think that was an emotion you ever experienced.”  
“I could say the same about you. And it wasn’t one I personally felt, but I can recognize it on others. And you have it bad.”  
“I do not!” Phantomness scoffed, “she’s a friend and that’s all!”  
“A friend who almost made you pass out when she hugged you? I don’t buy it.”  
She shook her head and dashed inside.  
“Run from it all you want, you know I’m right!” Jonny called after her as he took a draw off his cigarette, “best you just accept it now!”  
***  
She had done a lot of thinking by the time she saw Embla next and had realized, though she would never say it to his face, that Jonny had been right. The feelings she got when she was with her weren’t platonic, they were something deeper. They pulsed through her like a river, its current raging as Embla took her hand and led her to Svalinn Cafe. Embla had always been one for casual displays of affection with her friends, and Phantomness wasn’t about to complain. Though now, as they sat by the window of the cafe, talking over lukewarm tea, she felt the nerves bubbling up inside of her.  
“Embla,” she said during a break in the conversation, “I-I need to tell you something.”  
Concern was immediately etched into her friend’s features.  
“Okay,” she responded, “is everything alright?”  
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Phantomness stammered, “I just… I think I might… I think I might be in love. With you.”  
The concern faded into shock and suddenly she regretted everything she’d just said. She could feel the awkwardness of the situation pressing down on her chest like a weight as she waited for Embla to reply. Her friend broke the silence with laughter and Phantomness felt her heart shatter.  
“That’s a relief!” Embla exclaimed.  
“W-what do you mean?” Phantomness’s voice was uncharacteristically quiet.  
“It means that I don’t have to keep spending every night wondering if you return my feelings or not.”  
“W-what do you mean?”  
“I mean I think I might be in love with you too.”  
Phantomness gave her a bewildered smile.  
“Really? You mean that?” She asked.  
“Of course I do.”  
“So what do we do now? I-I’ve never done anything like this before.”  
“Whatever you want to do.”  
“Oh. Uh, well then, Embla Snorri, will you do me the pleasure of becoming my girlfriend?”  
“Believe me Phantomness, the pleasure is all mine.”  
***  
The next few months were a dream. Phantomness felt a new sense of purpose, having someone who she cared for this deeply. Jonny and The Doc taunted her about her relationship constantly, calling her ‘the lovesick puppy’, but she was too happy to care. Embla was incredible, and all hers. And that was all that mattered.  
At first she’d been slow to show affection with the girl she loved, even in the privacy of the forest or a bedroom. Phantomness had never felt even parental love, and she was unsure how exactly to express it. Slowly though, she learned she enjoyed Embla’s lips pressed against hers, and the feeling of her warm body huddled against hers when they cuddled. She’d even let her guard down enough to fall asleep with her head in her girlfriend’s lap one day while they sat in a nearby park, calmly snoozing as Embla ran her fingers through Phantomness’s light brown hair. She couldn’t remember a time when she’d been this happy, and doubted she ever had been. And it was all because of Embla.  
***  
“I don’t understand,” Phantomness whispered as her beautiful dream came crashing down around her, “I thought… I thought you felt the same way I did?”  
“So did I,” Embla responded, her voice cracking when she caught sight of her now ex-girlfriend’s tear soaked face, “but I just… I think it’d be better if we just stayed friends. I’m so sorry Phantomness, really I am. I wanted this to work, but I just… I don’t want to stay in a relationship where I don’t feel the same way the other person does. That wouldn’t be fair to you.”  
“I know.” She murmured as the next wave of tears started to flow. Embla embraced her crying friend, stroking her messy hair while she sobbed into her shoulder.  
“I’m sorry,” Phantomness whimpered. Embla gently grabbed her shoulders, making the masked girl look her in the eyes.  
“You have nothing to be sorry about. None of this was your fault.” She stated, “sometimes relationships don’t work out Phantomness, and sometimes people decide they’re better off as friends. It doesn’t mean you did anything wrong. I love you Phantomness, just… not in the way I thought I did. And I truly am sorry.”  
“It’s fine.” Phantomness wiped her tears, “I just… I want to be alone right now.”  
Embla nodded.  
“I understand,” she said as she stood up to leave, “I really am sorry Phantomness. If you… If you still want to be friends, and even if you don’t, please know that I will always be there for you. I promise.”  
Phantomness forgot how to speak again, for an entirely different reason than before.  
“Thanks.” Her voice was hollow as she watched Embla leave, her light slowly going out.  
***  
“You’re leaving?” Mimir asked, “Why?”  
“The Doc’s orders,” Phantomness explained, “she needs more… test subjects, and because we have a contract I’m required to go along.”  
“Do you know when you’ll be back?” Gylfi questioned, her eyes searching Phantomness for any hint of regret. She shook her head.  
“No idea.” She said, “I’m not sure I’ll ever be back.”  
“So let me see if I understand this,” Mimir hissed, anger building in his eyes, “instead of staying here with me and Gylfi and Embla, you’re leaving to chase after your sadistic fuck of a boss!?”  
“Mimir, it isn’t that simple-” Embla touched his shoulder.  
“Don’t defend her!” he shouted, “you of all people should understand how fucked up this is!”  
Mimir shrugged her off and stormed out of the room. Gylfi gave her friends an apologetic look before racing after her brother, leaving Embla and Phantomness alone.  
“I knew they weren’t going to take it well,” she murmured.  
“They needed to know,” Embla responded, clasping her shoulder, “he’ll get over it.”  
“I guess.” Phantomness cocked an eyebrow, “you took the news that your best friend was leaving with her boss and… Jonny… exceptionally well.”  
“Because I knew you had to do this, and they’ll understand too. In time.”  
Phantomness nodded. Though it hurt her that Embla didn’t love her in the way she wanted her to, Phantomness was grateful for her presence in her life. Maybe her light would make this transition easier.  
***  
“Do you remember the time we snuck into the Doc’s lab and stole her prototype for that arm?” Embla asked as she took another sip of mead. Phantomness chuckled.  
“How could I forget?” She asked, “She damn near shot Jonny with is own revolver she was so mad, thinking he’d done it.”  
The two laughed at the memory before it faded into silence. Phantomness’s gaze drifted up to the sky, watching the stars as one started to fly into the clearing, starting the dance she had come to know so well. Soon the clearing was filled with Celestialbugs, flying in shifting in magnificent silver patterns. Phantomness smiled.  
“This never gets old.” Embla murmured, the bugs creating a shining halo around her head.  
“Do you remember the first time we did this?” Phantomness asked, “you dragged me out here to show me the Celestials, and I saw the way they flocked to you. And when you turned to me with them shining in your hair, that was when I started feeling love for you.”  
Embla’s smile slowly faded as she shifted uncomfortably.  
“Phantomness, there’s something I wanted to give you,” she said, producing a small purple box, “I was going to wait until the morning, but I think you should have it now.”  
Phantomness pulled off the lid to reveal a dagger. She picked it up by its swirling rainbow handle, her fingers tracing along the carvings on the smooth stone.  
“It's bismuth,” Embla explained, “and the blade is tempered steel. I thought you could use it to protect yourself against The Doc and Jonny. Or whatever else is out there.”  
“I'll keep it with me always,” Phantomness smiled.  
“Think of me when you stab someone with it.”  
“Of course.”  
Embla sighed.  
“Really though Phantomness, please promise you won't forget about Midgard. About me.” she murmured, “tell me you'll keep in touch and I won't have to spend the rest of my life wondering if you're okay.”  
Phantomness stared off at the Clestialbugs, watching as the plunged and swirled in their midnight dance. She knew the dangers of keeping ties to her homeworld, especially human ties. There were plenty of beings out there that hated The Doc and even more that hated Jonny, and she knew that any hatred by association that they had of her would out the one she loved in danger. Pushing that though from her mind, she nodded.  
“Yeah Embla,” she said, “I promise.”  
***  
She wanted to keep her promise, she really had. But life had other plans, and soon Phantomness found herself not wanting to write to Embla at all. She was too worried about what she would say about all the danger she was put in. And besides, she figured, after the Doc's operation she was barely even the person that had hugged Embla goodbye and promised to write as she left with her boss and Jonny all those years ago. The metal in her stomach and the rage in her heart had changed her into something she barely recognized as herself. And she couldn't put her light through that.  
***  
Yog Sothoth’s chant rang in her ears as Phantomness ran her fingers along the swirls of color on her knife's handle. No matter how many shots she'd had in this run down Celestian pub or screaming she'd done where she knew no one could hear her, it never went away. It pounded in her head now, boring into her brain like a parasite gorging itself on what was left of her humanity. Embla was gone. She knew that now. The one person she'd ever genuinely cared for, pulled away from her by squamous beasts of the Outer Gods. _You could've called her on New France_ , she thought, _you could've explained to her that The Doc threatened her safety of you contacted her. She would've understood, she wouldn't have run away when you told her about everything that's happened. You know she wouldn't_.  
She drowned another shot of Celestian whiskey. Maybe she couldn't drown out the chanting, but she could try to push her own thoughts aside. It didn't matter anyway. There was nothing she could do now that would change what happened. Embla was gone, the only light in her life extinguished forever.


End file.
